Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has His anger shut off His compassion?” Selah
Parallel translations
- WEB Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he, in anger, withheld his compassion?” Selah.
- KJV Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah.
- NKJV Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies? Selah
- NASB Has God forgotten to be gracious, Or has He in anger withdrawn His compassion? Selah
- NLT Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he slammed the door on his compassion? Interlude
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Asaph asks whether God has forgotten to be gracious and shut up His compassion in anger.
Overview
These are the final and most piercing of the psalmist's anxious questions. He fears that God's grace and mercy have been withdrawn. The Selah marks the low point of the lament, yet the very act of asking these things before God prepares the way for the deliberate turn to faith that follows.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Isa 49:14–15But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me; the Lord has forgotten me!”
- Ps 40:11O LORD, do not withhold Your mercy from me; Your loving devotion and faithfulness will always guard me.
- Ps 25:6Remember, O LORD, Your compassion and loving devotion, for they are from age to age.
- Luke 13:25–28After the master of the house gets up and shuts the door, you will stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’ But he will reply, ‘I do not know where you are from.’
- Isa 40:27Why do you say, O Jacob, and why do you assert, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and my claim is ignored by my God”?
- Ps 51:1For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. When Nathan the prophet came to him after his adultery with Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your loving devotion; according to Your great compassion, blot out my transgressions.
- Rom 11:32For God has consigned everyone to disobedience so that He may have mercy on everyone.
- Isa 63:15Look down from heaven and see, from Your holy and glorious habitation. Where are Your zeal and might? Your yearning and compassion for me are restrained.
- 1 Jn 3:17If anyone with earthly possessions sees his brother in need, but withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God abide in him?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 77:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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